Five year plan
The Oregon Department of Agriculture has unveiled a five-year strategic plan that focuses on how the agency does its job and ways of doing it better and it might serve as a model for other states such as Idaho.
Two years in the making, the new strategic plan serves as a guidepost for ODA's staff and management, says Director Alexis Taylor:
TAYLOR: "There's a lot of value in writing down who we are and how we operate, and how we expect ourselves to operate– not just for our employees today, but for new employees who are coming in and trying to figure out the culture and how we work, and where we put our priorities."
With ODA's diverse and complex mission, it's important to clarify the department's key objectives and agency expectations while identifying what needs to happen to effectively accomplish the work. There are seven key objectives ranging from embracing a culture of collaboration and fostering employee excellence to connecting and promoting Oregon food and agriculture as a valued experience for consumers and an exciting career choice. Director Taylor says the objectives align with ODA's mission: "I think about it in 3 different buckets: our employees, us as a leadership team and how we are serving our employees, and then how we, as an agency, are connecting and serving all Oregonians.."
ODA is making its five-year strategic plan a living document, perpetually adding another year. At the end of 2018, the plan will be revisited, re-evaluated, and a fifth year added that includes work plans under each key objective. The desired outcome will be continuous improvement for the agency.
